A Son's Revenge
by Cheeky Hayden
Summary: Things go awry for Light Yagami and L Lawliet when a character from L's mysterious past surfaces to claim what he deemed was rightfully his. Rated T for dark themes. AUish. Male OC. Full summary inside.
1. Ghost

**Disclaimer: **I do not own DN or any of its characters. Any similarity in the story to actual persons, animals, places and events is purely coincidental. Please forgive me if I either deviated too much from the canon, or if there are any inaccuracies in place descriptions, or both. 

**Summary: **AU. Set two years after episode 25, L finally captures Light (yes, folks, L is alive in this fan fiction ) and brings him to justice. Light is tried, found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment for multiple counts of homicide. Things would go awry for the two geniuses, however, when a ghost from L's past resurfaces, out to take what he deemed was rightfully his. 

"I'm sorry, Light. I really have to do this."

A brown-haired teenager looked up into the eyes of a weary middle-aged man with streaks of white through the latter's hair. Light could see nothing but bitter disappointment in Soichiro Yagami's eyes.

His father's eyes.

Light could not reply. Light, wearing a simple black long-sleeved shirt with a round collar and black pants, slowly turned his back on the man who had raised him for almost two decades. He did this with difficulty, either because both his hands and feet were bound by chains ending in a heavy metal ball, or because he could not stand what he picked up from his father's voice, or both. He did not mean to look disrespectful in front of his father, and he never really wanted everything to come to this. 

"Sir, your time is up," said the young guard to his father, while the former pointed at his watch and showed it to the elder Yagami. Soichiro squinted at the man, who blinked under the former's intense stare. 

"Alright, then," said Soichiro, and Light watched his father's shadow on the concrete walls of his cell grow smaller and smaller, as the cruel sound of his father's feet dragging and the iron bars clanking followed. He could not bear it, but Light decided that there was no use simply staring at the shadows the iron bars cast on the walls; he turned around to face the iron bars, again with difficulty, and sat down on the rather hard bed, with only a thin white blanket and a single flat, dirty pillow softening it.

Light then buried his face in his hands. How could he, the most intelligent, promising and gifted student in his school, who only sought to purge this world of crime and corruption, face the irony of ending up in a pathetic prison cell (and a "maximum security" cell at that) alongside the very people whom he persecuted? 

Then he suddenly thought of the man responsible for all his sufferings: L. A sudden rush of hatred for the sugar-addicted, insomniac detective filled him. 

Light vaguely remembered how the blinding flashes of the journalists' cameras added to his already uncomfortable position, as two strong men held his hands behind his back. He was being brought to the highest court in Japan against his will, accompanied by men led by his father, who was not looking at him, and by a strange young man with untidy black hair whom Light had come to associate with inexplicable rushes of guilt in his chest… No, he should not be feeling guilty, he did not do anything wrong…

All it took was to let himself be tricked by L into revealing the mechanics and whereabouts of the Death Note. Light had deleted the method by which L had betrayed him from his memory, but he did remember with bitterness that the next thing he knew, police cars and his own father were swooping down on him like vultures…

_You're under arrest, Light Yagami_, his father said in a shaking voice, _for the murders of_… And Soichiro Yagami reluctantly revealed about 50 pictures of men who died within the last four months of mysterious heart attacks.

_Light Yagami, you have been found guilty for the murders of people too numerous to mention here. The blood spilled by these murdered men in their lifetime does not cleanse your hands of the blood shed by these very men… I sentence you to spend the rest of your remaining life behind bars. _

At the sound of Judge Shinichi Ishitaka's small hammer, two men grasped Light by the arms, each of them holding one arm. As Light allowed himself to be quietly dragged outside, he looked back at all the faces looking at him: the faceless multitude, whose names he would never know, but he would always remember as shooting him mixed expressions of sadness, anger, hatred and disappointment; his parents' faces, Soichiro's, contorted by disappointment and a resolute attempt to hold back tears, Sachiko's, covered by a white lace handkerchief, softly sobbing at what had become of her son; his sister Sayu, whose eyes were wide with shock, while whispering, "Onii-chan, why?", and, like her father, was stoic; and L's. That face. That expressionless, pale face, which masked a genius even Light did not anticipate. Those deceptively languid black eyes, framed by dark circles, like two bottomless pits to hell, oh, how he would like to tear them out with his bare hands… Light swore to himself that L will pay someday for taking his precious Death Note away…

Out of the corner of his eyes, Light saw a shadow fall to the ground, then another shadow appear. He also heard a low moan, as though someone had been punched in the stomach, followed by a soft thump. Light slowly moved his head up from his hands, only to be faced by a startling sight.

"You!" With unexpected strength abetted by fear, Light jumped up from the bed. Light could not see the man's face, for the moonlight from the barred window two feet above Light's head only illuminated the unconscious body of the young guard who asked his father to step out earlier and the slightly hunched body of a tall man with his hands in his pockets standing outside the prison bars. The man's head was a black silhouette, but something about that silhouette was familiar…

"Relax, Yagami," a cold, deep, voice replied. "You're partly right… I am me, but I am not who you think I am."

Something about that voice made the hairs on Light's neck stand up. Nevertheless, he tried to sound unmoved by saying, "How did you know my name?"

"As of now, that little piece if information is irrelevant," said the voice, as the man stepped into the moonlight. 

Light could not help but blink in surprise, and judging by the upward curl of the man's lips, the latter had noticed. 

The man bore a striking resemblance to none other than the great L himself. Like L, the man wore a baggy white T-shirt and jeans, and was also barefoot. If you did not look at the eyes and the slight variance in height (Light had enough experience of the sight of L to last him a lifetime, being literally chained to the great detective at one humiliating point), you would wonder why L would visit the criminal who gave him the hardest time in his entire career in the dead of night, knock out the unfortunate guard, and speak to Light in riddles. The man in front of him had piercing gray almond eyes, which narrowed with amusement at the sight of Light's bewildered face (although Light tried in vain to conceal it), and had no trace of dark circles underneath, and he was definitely taller than L by about two inches and probably a bit older as well. 

"We don't have much time, Yagami. Stand back," the man said as he pulled out a circular object from his pocket.

"Is that a …?"

The mysterious man only glared at the disheveled Light. And so, unlike his usual self, Light did as he was told due to his inability to recover immediately from his shock and disorientation, and the man threw the circular object against the concrete wall. A loud, piercing sound hit Light's ears, and he crouched down, closed his eyes and covered his ears to minimize the impact of the explosion. To his surprise, the man immediately appeared in front of him, in a similar crouching position. 

"Hold out your hands and feet," a voice commanded in Light's ears, and again, he did as he was told. Judging by the speed with which Mr. Gray Eyes unlocked the chains (using the keys he stole from the hapless guard), Light deduced that the man was used to doing things like this. The sound of the explosion in his cell was immediately followed by the cry of the sirens, which made him realize…

"You're free now, kid. Grab my hand, and follow me!"

"My foot is bleeding!" The explosion caused some of the rubble to hit Light's left foot. He also felt a slight stab of annoyance at being called a "kid". He was around twenty years old, for goodness sake. Twenty year olds are not kids. 

"We'll deal with that later! They're coming!" said the exasperated man, and he immediately grabbed Light's left hand and pulled him out of the cell, through the large hole the hand grenade had made, with surprising strength (the man had the same deceptively frail figure as L), forcing Light to endure the pain he felt in his foot to follow the man who had just helped him escape.

_And to think they called it a "maximum security" cell, _Light thought. 

**Guys, please do recall that I set this fic a couple of years after episode 25 in the anime. So I think Light would be about 20 or 21 at that time (if I did my math correctly). **

**What do you think so far, guys? Please give it a rating of 0 to 4, 4 being the highest. (Tip: You can also give me a rating like 2.5, for instance :-) ) A rating of 3-4 would mean to me that this fic is very good and that I should keep on writing and improving it. 2-2.5 means that my fic is just average, but can still be improved. Lastly, I would interpret 0 to 1.5 as a sign that the fic is a waste of Internet space. Oh yeah, constructive criticism, whether positive or negative would be most helpful. (Another tip: Please explain why you gave me your rating.)**

**You're probably wondering, "Who the hell is the gray-eyed guy who looks like L and helped Light escape?" Sorry, I can't reveal that… for now. :-)**


	2. Light

**Thanks for reviewing, guys! Sorry if this one took too long to upload… I was suffering from a serious case of "writer's block" recently. It didn't help that my college professors heaped on us a lot of "holiday work" (I think the word combination is rather oxymoronic, don't you agree?) Anyway, each chapter will be told by a DN character whose POV I deem to be most appropriate for the chapter's theme. As you may have noticed, Chapter 1 was told from Light's POV. This one will be from L's POV. Read on and (hopefully) enjoy! **

10:37 AM

Wammy's Orphanage

Winchester, England

Most of the time, Winchester was not a place of vibrant activity. Throughout the year, people would just mind their own business, and children would shun their peers when they were not in school. This monotony would occasionally be broken by lovestruck teenagers secretly running off to some secret place, away from the prying eyes of their overprotective parents, and attracting curious glances from bystanders. But the looks the bystanders gave these "outlaws" were no more curious than the glances they gave a raven-haired young man with an unusual posture, who was queuing in "Mike's Confetti Store".

"How much do I have to pay, Miss?" L asked the flabbergasted young lady in the counter. In front of her were literally _five _bags of sweets. Naturally, the people behind L were wondering what was taking so long in the counter. When they saw the number of bags heaped in the counter, they began to mentally count how many people were being served by the lady in the counter at one time. 

"That would be 500 pounds, sir." The lady paused. "You're throwing a children's party, sir?" she asked, in an apparent attempt to be courteous and friendly.

"No, this is one month for me," shrugged L, who received wide eyes and an open mouth from the lady, as she absentmindedly pressed the bills inside the counter. The poor girl was probably thinking, _Please tell me I did not interpret that to mean that all those bags of sweets will be consumed by this man alone._

People kept on staring, from the time L used up about forty percent of his strength to carry all five bags as he left the counter to the moment he stepped out the store's door. L did not really mind; he was already used to how people reacted every time they saw him. 

_Finally, I can rest, _L thought as he set foot on the doorsteps leading to the place he had come to call home: Wammy's orphanage.

He did not only mean rest from carrying heavy bags from sweets. Ever since he started working on the Kira case in Japan, he did not have a decent night's sleep. Not that he was fond of sleeping; even when he was in his most relaxed state, the longest time he ever slept was three and a half hours. Nonetheless, the Kira case was the most difficult he had encountered so far. Before Kira, it took him only three months to solve the most difficult case, the one which involved a "vampire" in France, which actually turned out to be a young man suffering from a rare mental illness. The young man literally drilled holes in the necks of his victims (who were mostly young, beautiful women) while they were still alive, killing them by draining their blood. Apparently, the poor man believed that the blood of these women would make him immortal. 

Before Kira, it never occurred to him that he would encounter a man who would equal him in terms of intellectual prowess. 

Light Yagami. What an ironic name. L personally felt bad about the way the young man turned out. Light could have put his talents to better use. He could have graduated from school with the highest honors, and studied in a prestigious school which would further challenge him to develop his full potential. He could have become a defender of law and order, just like his father, in turn becoming a "light" in this world overrun by the demons of strife, crime and corruption. Instead, he chose a means of "cleansing" the world which the world was not prepared to accept. By choosing this particular method, he also chose to dig his own grave. 

_Honestly, I would not be surprised if Light Yagami managed to…_

L's thoughts were interrupted by the all-too-familiar ringing of his cellphone. He immediately knew that something was wrong, for Watari was the only contact he listed in his phone book. Watari was currently in Japan under L's orders, and the former was instructed to contact him if anything went "berserk" in Japan, so to speak. 

"Hello?"

"Ryuuzaki, fly to Kanto, quick."

"Right."

Watari hung up very abruptly, for he did not feel the need to explain further. He knew that L had already figured out what happened. 

But first, he had to get his precious sweets inside the orphanage.

**What do you think this time? I know the chapter is kind of short, but I felt I had to cut it at a point. When you read my later chapters, I hope you will understand why I employed this style. Again, please do the four R's (read and rate, then rant or rave). **

**Oh yeah, this is NOT a shounen-ai fic. Don't get me wrong; I have no problems whatsoever with not-so-straight pairings. However, I am kind of touchy about the fact that people tend to read too much between the lines sometimes, so to speak. Hehehe… Anyway, please tell me what you think so far! :-)**

**Another clarification: This fic will not only be from the alternating POVs of Light and L (although it will appear that way most of the time). I will also use the POVs of other characters, just to break the monotony. **

**Bye for now!**


	3. Lion

**Again, thank you for the reviews, both positive and negative. Okay, I won't say much here, except that this chapter is from Light's POV. **

The road seemed never ending for Light. He was running through a vast area of nothingness, with square flashes of lights (_author's note: no pun intended_) of various colors appearing every time his feet touched the ground. Was there even a "ground" in the first place? Light felt, through his eyes, as though he was floating in a black, wide space, yet he felt, through his feet, that he was standing on solid ground. He did not know where he was going, yet the reason for running continuously escaped him.

Finally, a rectangular door, with its longer sides positioned vertically, appeared in front of Light. The door knob was gold, like the outline of the door, which was presumably made of black ebony, making it almost invisible in the place where Light was standing.

Light takes a deep breath, and then steps toward the door. As he stepped forward, however, the door appeared to shrink slightly. When he stepped backward, the door returned to its normal size. Was this an illusion created by his relative distance from the door? No, Light thought, he was very good in estimating the sizes of objects even when they were a thousand meters away from him, as proven by his above average marks in geometry and trigonometry.

He sat down on the "floor", waiting for something, for what he did not know. Then the door suddenly opened, and a bright light blinded him momentarily. When he tried to look again, through the arms he used to shield his eyes, he saw a dark figure seemingly coming out of the door. Later, he heard a scream which seemed to come from his own mouth…

"Yagami! Yagami! Are you all right?"

After hearing a familiar deep voice, Light opened his eyes, and the first things that greeted him were a pair of piercing gray eyes, an aquiline nose and a slightly open mouth.

"Sorry, I had a dream, I mean, a nightmare…" Light sat up and rubbed his eyes. The man stepped back, looking, oddly enough, _concerned (?) _for him. Odd, because for the past few hours that Light had known the man, he usually wore a blank, if not cold, expression.

He looked at the mysterious L-look-alike who, about 8 hours ago, broke into his prison cell and helped him escape. A chill shot up Light's spine. He remembered how the man forced him inside an air vent (with an injured foot!) in order for them to escape. When they reached the prison gates (because they found out when they got out of the air vent that they had no other way out of the prison's vicinity), Gray Eyes (as Light called him in his head, for the man's eyes were his most striking feature) knocked out one of the two guards patrolling the area and stole his hand gun. When the second guard, in alarm, started shooting at the two of them, Gray Eyes shot the man through the heart, alerting the other guards. The prison lights were rolling all around them, like dancers to the sound of the sirens. Light Yagami, by this time, already had his composure intact. He was no longer a stranger to watching people die before his eyes.

"Come on, Yagami! This way!" Light regained the alertness in his reflexes, and did not hesitate to follow Gray Eyes into the night.

All Light remembered was that they kept on running and hiding. Running and hiding. Running and hiding. It was a good thing that Light was more than just physically fit; otherwise, he would not have lasted an hour keeping up with Gray Eyes' energy, especially since his foot was bleeding. His survival instincts, however, were stronger than the signals his brain sent to indicate that a part of his body was in pain. (At least later, Gray Eyes had the courtesy to help Light mend his foot.) Finally, they reached what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse, and hid there for a while.

"Here, Yagami. You should change into these. I know they're 'not you', but you're a fugitive now, you have no choice." Before him, Light saw a brown shirt and jeans, laid on his lap by Gray Eyes. Apparently, the man had gone shopping (stealing?) while Light was asleep.

"Thank you," Light said as he changed clothes before the man's eyes. "I hope you didn't take this from some kid… sir." He paused.

Gray Eyes just chuckled. "Of course not, Yagami. My source for your clothes is the same as the source for mine."

At the man's statement, Light noticed that Gray Eyes was wearing a dark red shirt and white pants. The shirt rather emphasized the paleness of the man's skin. Light decided that it would be unwise to question the man further about the source of the clothes; after all, it was a very trivial matter, and the clothes were clean anyway.

"I have postponed this question ever since I escaped from prison…" Light began.

"My name is Leon Hemingway y Rodriguez."

"You're very sharp," Light remarked, impressed. Then again, it was quite easy to figure out that when you're strangers, "What is your name?" would be the first question that either party would pop up if they were interested in getting to know each other better. "Leon is the Spanish word for 'lion', am I correct?" _Finally, I actually have a name to call him._

"Yes," replied Leon. His features became cold again. Light had the feeling that his question somehow triggered this reaction. There was a rather awkward silence afterwards.

"So, you're Spanish?"

"Well, by place of birth, I'm English. But I spent most of my life in Spain, with my mother. So I think that makes me Spanish." He paused. "What do you think of my name, by the way?"

"I'm sorry?" Light thought the question was rather odd.

"You did not answer my question," replied Leon, again building up that aura of subtle authority around him. His voice was cold and firm.

"Considering your rather bossy demeanor, I think the name befits you," Light answered rather bluntly. Light hated being asked questions that were beneath his level of intellect, and he considered "What do you think of my name?" one of them. Leon glared, but Light was unfazed. Light had prior experience dealing with a man with an intellect, in his opinion, far superior to Leon's, and stood his ground.

_Darn it, I shouldn't be thinking about that bastard L…_

To Light's surprise, the man fell back and smiled.

"Well, Yagami, I can see why you are popular even though you are something of an unemotional nerd. You're a charming, stubborn, sonofabitch."

"And you are the epitome of the Ice King, Leon," Light shot back. Leon again narrowed his eyes at the boy, then curled his lips, which was exactly the same expression he wore when Light first saw him.

"Do you have a strong stomach, Yagami?"

"I wouldn't really mind if you called me 'Light' or 'Raito'. What do you mean I have a strong stomach?"

"Well, since we don't have any money…"

_Shit, he just had to remind me of that._

Light noticed that Leon had shifted his gaze to something small scampering around the old sacks in the warehouse. Leon stood up and sniffed. What the man was looking for, or whether the man had gone insane, Light did not care, but he decided to watch nonetheless.

Leon picked up what appeared to be an old, rusty rake, and then crouched down like a lion hiding and waiting to pounce at a herd of gazelles. When Light saw the rake slam down on something which gave a loud squeak, he understood…

"Leon! We are not seriously going to eat…" Light said in disgust as he looked at the bloody creature (a rat, of all things) impaled upon the rusty rake.

"Well, Light, it's either we eat this or we don't eat at all," said Leon. "Will you help me gather anything flammable? Not too flammable, okay? Otherwise, we'll be roasted in here."

"Of course," Light said as he stood up and gathered some dirty, dried paper he had been sweeping away from his place of rest.

_Welcome to the life of the street rats, Light. Good luck not getting tetanus. Imagine eating a rat killed by a RUSTY rake!_

**Spanish names are usually (usually!) arranged this way: "First Name" "Father's Surname" y "Mother's Surname". So Leon is basically half English, half Spanish. But legally, he's a Spaniard (citizenship based on the place where he spent most of his life). I based this on general laws on citizenship, but each country might vary though...**

**Without further ado, reviews would be really appreciated. :-)**


	4. Young and Old

**After 10 years (I'm obviously exaggerating, guys), I've finally finished this chapter. I originally planned to do it from L's POV, but when I started off that way, I felt… weird XD. So Watari will help you dissect L's thoughts instead.**

**Anyway, this is where the story of the quest to bring two criminals to justice starts…**

Kanto Airport

Kanto, Japan

10:03 AM

Even though it was not 12 o' clock yet, the Japanese national police force already felt the unforgiving heat of the sun, which was positioned in a 70-degree angle relative to the concrete ground under their feet. Although Director Enishi Katsura specifically ordered the group to "stay as close to each other as possible", everyone was forced to distance themselves from one another in order to avoid having the molecules in their body going into rapid movements. It did not help that, to fit their desired image as professionals, everyone was supposed to dress like corporate executives: black blazer and slacks, white polo shirt, and plain but elegant neckties.

A sudden gust of wind brought them good news: that they were going to be spared for at least a few minutes from the heat, and that the man called Ryuuzaki had arrived. As the airplane slowed down along the runway, the entire task force rushed towards it, including, of course, Watari himself. After all, he was responsible for bringing the young detective into Japan in the first place.

"Sorry I'm late," Ryuuzaki said as he descended from the plane, carrying three large leather suitcases of what Watari suspected to be…

_Sweets, sweets and more sweets. Honestly, I would be surprised if I found something else inside them. _

"No, on the contrary, your response was most timely," said Katsura as he shook Ryuuzaki's free hand (the other hand was busy putting down the suitcases). "Perhaps you need to rest for a while… There's a hotel close by…"

"No, sir, I will begin working on the case immediately," replied the pale man who looked at Katsura with determined black eyes. "The sooner we work on the crime scene, the better the condition of the evidences we might be able to gather, if any,"

"Good… That's very professional of you," smiled Katsura.

Something about that smile made Watari feel a bit uneasy.

* * *

The subtle aura that the "maximum security" division of the prison, where Light Yagami was confined not too long ago, emitted was definitely not for the faint-hearted. The pathway between the concrete cells was too narrow for comfort; you could practically smell the inmates. Speaking of inmates, Watari kept himself as close to Ryuuzaki as he could, for he could hear the most dangerous criminals in Japan muttering under their breaths as the investigators passed between them…

"So, that's Ryuuzaki…"

"_That's _the world's greatest detective? Looks more like the world's greatest _joke_ to me…"

"Hey, Ryuuzaki, do you think Light Yagami is a cutie? You seem to be very obsessed with him…"

"Yeah, are you a f…"

Watari could no longer restrain himself; he launched himself on the iron bars of one of the cells, which only allowed him to glare at a rather short, bald and severely tattooed man on the opposite side with an evil-looking smile.

_He's probably a Yakuza member. _

"Watari, don't mind them. They're not the reason we're here," said Ryuuzaki, clutching Watari's left arm. Watari detected a slight edge in Ryuuzaki's voice, though.

"Well said, Ryuuzaki," said Katsura, who was almost smirking, as the rest of the force stared at the pair outside the cell of Ichiro Kikushima, the short, heavily tattooed guy.

As they left the area, Watari could swear he heard something like, "That Ryuuzaki guy is rather attractive…", a statement which sent shivers down his spine.

* * *

Finally, they reached the crime scene. A roughly oval hole, large enough to be a door for the average man, greeted them, along with scattered concrete rubble present both inside and outside the cell. Because of protocol, the police did not touch anything: the covers on Light's bed were in disarray, and what appeared to be traces of blood were present near the rubble. Ryuuzaki knelt near the rubble and moved his head as if looking for something, while sucking his thumb. (Watari had learned long ago never to question Ryuuzaki's strange habits).

"Well, Ryuuzaki? What do you make of this?" Katsura piped up.

_(A/N: L's theme A playing in the background)_

"It's easy, and I think you've already deduced it, sir," said Ryuuzaki without looking at the director, "but nonetheless, I will grant your request. This was a planned escape, yes, but not by Light. Look at the bed cover; it was thrown aside, indicating that Light was in a hurry getting out of bed."

"But Ryuuzaki, that would also be the case if Light was planning his escape all along… Of course, he would have anticipated that he needed to hurry if he did not want to get caught by the guards."

"No, sir," Ryuuzaki stood up, but his back was still slightly hunched. He was still looking at the inside of the cell. "If Light had been planning this all along, then the bed covers would not be this messy… You do know Light is a deceptively calm personality, even under pressure. As I once chained him to my side before, director, I believe I know him better than you do," he added coolly. There was profound silence after this statement. Katsura's eyebrows met, his eyes narrowed and lips slightly pursed.

"Furthermore, Light would not be so stupid as to ask somebody else to free him without specifying how. Look at the amount of this blood; this did not come from someone who was _anticipating_ being freed via potentially lethal explosives. I don't think John Doe just slipped the explosive through the bars to Light; there's more rubble _inside _the cell than outside, which, in my experience, implies that the explosive was thrown from _outside _the cell. Speaking of explosives… Do you have leads as to the type and source of the explosive, director?"

"It's still undergoing tests in the laboratory," said Katsura rather bluntly. "Now that we have roughly reconstructed how Light Yagami escaped, can you deduce _who _helped him?" There was a glint in Katsura's eyes which made Watari step slightly closer towards the director.

"Obviously, I can't answer that right now, sir, unless you can provide me concrete or, at least, circumstantial clues on John Doe's identity. However, I do have a theory on the man's motive… It might have been Light's Death Note."

Everyone was whispering under their breaths. Katsura did not speak, but was still looking at Ryuuzaki with an expression that suggested skepticism.

"Assuming my theory is correct, then it follows that John Doe was within Japan's territory during the broadcast of Light's arrest. I believe you granted my request to have the proper authorities broadcast it _exclusively _in Japan, sir?"

"Of course," said Katsura through gritted teeth. Apparently, the director did not like the way Ryuuzaki emphasized the phrase "the proper authorities".

"So, Ryuuzaki, you're suggesting that John Doe wanted Light's Death Note… The Death Note is with you, right?"

"Yes, sir. I don't think there's any other way he could have learned about Kira's identity and the Death Note unless he saw the broadcast of Light's arrest."

"Why would he go through the trouble thinking about how to free Light Yagami (which, unfortunately, he executed successfully) when he can just take the Death Note from you?" asked Katsura, his mouth curling into a slight sneer.

Ryuuzaki put his thumb into his mouth once more and turned to look at the empty cell. After ten minutes, he faced the group and said, "Leverage".

"Leverage?"

"Yes. If that is so, then my theory that Light neither planned his own escape nor anticipated it would fit. By now, it's probable that John Doe had already taken Light into unfamiliar territory; that is, a place or situation where Light would have no choice but to obey the former's wishes, whether he wanted them or not."

"I get what you're saying, Ryuuzaki. John Doe is planning to steal the Death Note and force Light to use it for whatever his main purpose is. Light is already the known owner of the Death Note, and John Doe did not want to implicate himself. He's using the element of mystery; that's very clever of him," finished Katsura.

"Correct."

"Even so…" began the director, apparently determined not to lose the respect of his subordinates to an eccentric, sweet-loving young man, "you said before that Light had a lot of inner strength, intelligence and a very firm belief in his definition of right and wrong – obviously a dangerous combination for a criminal on the loose, personality-wise."

The group had almost forgotten that Soichiro Yagami was among them; he coughed rather loudly. He wasn't speaking throughout the conversation between Ryuuzaki and Katsura. Even though Soichiro had finally accepted his son's guilt, it was understandable that he would still flinch at the thought of his own son being branded a "criminal".

"Don't you think it's possible that Light wanted it to _appear _that he was freed against his will?"

"Director," replied Ryuuzaki in a slightly strained voice, betraying a hint of impatience, "why would Light want to further ruin his already ruined reputation? He had everything most men his age would only dream of – financial stability, good looks, popularity (rather than notoriety, which he has now) among his peers, an IQ which, I can testify, was several notches above average. That image of near perfection was single-handedly crumbled by his capture and arrest. Light is a very proud man; you saw his facial expression when he was arrested…"

"… and you were responsible for his arrest. You said he was proud. Why would he want to follow a complete stranger, whom he probably suspected right from the beginning to have ulterior motives for freeing him?"

"Sir, if you were Light, and some stranger, wittingly or unwittingly, gives you an opportunity for escape and, probably, revenge, even though you know that there's a strong possibility that the stranger cannot be trusted, and you also know that you are more than capable of worming yourself out of any fix, no matter how tight, what would you do?"

The question floored everybody, including Katsura, judging from their general facial expressions and the awkward silence that followed. Inside, Watari was proud of his protégé's ability to stand his ground. Ryuuzaki's black eyes shifted around the area, finally spotting a…

"Director, I think you've… er… forgotten to tell me that there was a surveillance camera near Light's cell."

"Oh, that's for repair, Ryuuzaki," the director added hastily, seeing what Ryuuzaki was looking at. Watari caught a glimpse of a drop of sweat on Katsura's chin.

"All right, then. That ends our discussion about this scene. Do you have any more questions, director? Or anybody, for that matter?" asked Ryuuzaki, looking around the flabbergasted group.

As expected, no one replied, except for Katsura, who said quietly, "We have no more questions for you, Ryuuzaki. Thank you for your help, and I'm sorry if I was rather… rude to you."

"It's okay, sir. I understand that it's your way of trying to shed light (no pun intended) on this case."

"I will inform you of anything else we might gather about this case. It was a pleasure working with you," said Katsura, bowing. Ryuuzaki bowed back slightly.

As Katsura's group exited, Watari was about to follow, when he felt Ryuuzaki suddenly rush to his side, and whisper in his ear: "Unused storeroom. Word with you."

Watari understood. _I want to have a word with you. Meet me at the unused storeroom, the first one you will see upstairs._

"Right," Watari whispered back, as Ryuuzaki nodded.

* * *

As Watari followed Ryuuzaki and closed the steel door behind him, he looked around while having the inexplicable urge to take off his trench coat and cough loudly. The room was small, very humid and dusty, with crates, "wearing" spider webs, crammed to a corner. Nevertheless, the walls were sound proof, which told Watari that their conversation was going to be extremely confidential.

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

"I think you know very well what we are going to talk about, Watari."

"I could tell you were withholding certain information from the director."

"He was doing the same to me. Remember the surveillance camera? The one he said was under repair? So, he's implying that it has not been repaired _before _Light's escape? Really, they have a lot of competent repairmen in this area. I know Katsura is more responsible than that. Suspicious, don't you think?"

"You're saying there was nothing wrong with the camera? If that's the case, then…"

"… Katsura has at least one clue on the identity of Light's savior."

"Do you have an idea as to who it is? I think you do, Ryuuzaki…"

It was one of those extremely rare occasions when Ryuuzaki displayed any sign of emotion on his face; Ryuuzaki smiled after Watari said this.

"Yes, I do, but we'll come to that later; I have to explain a few things first. Katsura may be a bit arrogant, but I can attest that he's definitely not stupid, though his judgment does occasionally fail him, as proven by the 'malfunctioning' surveillance camera we saw earlier. He didn't become the director of the police force for nothing." Ryuuzaki sucked his thumb again and paced back and forth in front of Watari. "The moment I learned that he asked me to help him work on this case, I already had my suspicions. Finding out the details on Light Yagami's escape and apprehending the one responsible is, I believe, a much easier case to solve than a hundred criminals dying of heart attacks all over the place under mysterious circumstances. Though I don't want to admit it in front of him, I believe he is competent enough to solve the case by himself. He's just _pretending _he isn't…"

"Why do you think he asked your help, then?"

"I think he believes that I'm the one responsible for all of this."

Ryuuzaki probably caught a glimpse of Watari's jaw dropping, so he continued, "It fits, Watari. He already knew that Light did not plan his own escape; he knew that someone outside was responsible. He kept contradicting me earlier in order not to arouse too much suspicion on my part. His purpose for asking me to be present in the crime scene was not for me to help him; he was hoping I would somehow implicate_ myself_. It's a tactic commonly used by some police officers in Europe; bring a suspect to the crime scene, purportedly as someone who could 'help', keep him/her talking and be alert for any 'slip-ups' the suspect might commit."

"If that's the case, then why do you think did he suspect _you, _of all people?"

"He made a mistake in not hiding the 'defective' surveillance camera from me. I think the camera caught the man on tape. And based on Katsura's attitude towards me earlier, it's possible, if not probable, that the mysterious man has a… how should I say this… very close resemblance to... yours truly. Of course, it would be very awkward for Katsura if he revealed that to me in front of his subordinates. By hiding the tape from me, Katsura made sure that I would keep working on the case, which I'm sure he was hoping will lead to me. To use the analogy, he was hoping (and, I assure him, against all hope) that I would dig my own grave."

"But then, how could he assume that you would make the mistake of implicating yourself?"

"He can always reason out that I'm (sorry for my lack of modesty right now) too clever to give myself away so easily, so I'm working on my own case just to keep suspicion away from me."

"Hmmm…" thought Watari rather loudly, "it is very evident, then, that Katsura does not like you very much. Do you think he is in cahoots with John Doe?"

"It's possible, but highly unlikely, Watari. Even if he is capable of such a thing, Katsura would not be so stupid as to involve himself in a crime, then involve _me_ in its investigation. Again, I'm sorry for displaying my proud streak; I can tell that Katsura, though quietly and grudgingly, acknowledges the height of the level of my intelligence. Furthermore, he's someone very conscious of his reputation; you saw how he acted towards me in front of his colleagues. He wants to project himself as a strong, competent and decisive leader. He would never do anything that would besmirch his reputation."

"Now we know what Katsura was thinking… What does that have to do with John Doe's identity?"

"At this point, I think you also have a vague idea who it is…"

"BB?"

"No. Not too long ago, before I arrived here, I managed to make contact with some people in America, who told me that BB is securely behind bars. Not too many people look like me, Watari."

"That leaves only one person, who could only be…"

As Watari uttered the name, he felt dread as Ryuuzaki nodded in agreement.

**Guys, I don't know if Kanto really has an airport within its vicinity. I just made it up, okay? And yes, Enishi Katsura is another OC (other than you-know-who). Speaking of you-know-who, I think you guys have already figured out what L figured out (i.e., the identity of Light's savior). "John Doe" is used to refer to unidentified people, more specifically, males. The female counterpart is Jane Doe. You can check Wikipedia for more details on this. :)**

**So… What do you think? Again, I humbly request you to give honest but constructive feedback. (Tip: You could comment on how I handled L as a character. You can also spot holes in the plot and in L's logic (which, technically, is my own), if any, and I will nag my good friend L to explain further, though I'm sure he would be uncharacteristically annoyed. JUST KIDDING (about L being a friend of mine)! XD) I have to tell you, I fried (okay, boiled) my brain just coming up with this one chapter, as I think it's a most crucial chapter. Oh yeah, it's also the reason why it took a very long time to update. Plus, I had to literally **_**think **_**like L (though I acknowledge that my IQ is waaaaaay below his XD). Anyway, R&R please! Thank you! :)**


	5. Moonlight Sonata

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Need I say anything here? Not much, just read on, guys… And oh yeah, keep your eyes peeled. This is another important chapter.

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_(A/N: Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata playing in the background)_

Sleep does not come easily to one who hides from the omnipresent eyes of Lady Justice. But sleep is likewise difficult to those who serve her (or, at least, those who _believe _they serve her). This was what two young men present in a dusty old attic (in a house ready for demolition, so there was a rather creepy feeling to the place) one night found out very quickly. One of them, who had short brown hair and was wearing equally brown clothes, was sitting on the old wooden floor, his legs slightly stretched and bent in front of him, his arms crossed, and his face wearing an expression of someone deep in thought. The other man, with untidy black hair, was sleeping soundly on some old faded pillowcases, beside the brown-haired man.

Light Yagami found himself staring at the moon through the round hole directly above them. The moon was in a gibbous phase: larger than a half moon, but slightly smaller than a full moon. Unlike Leon Hemingway, he wasn't feeling sleepy yet. Suddenly, his eyes drifted to something shining about a meter away from him. Light leaned forward to see what it was, and it turned out to be a fragment of a mirror. He reached out his palm to it, and heard himself yelp and (almost) say the "f" word when he had the misfortune of touching the jagged edge. He looked at his right index finger and saw that it was bleeding.

_Damn it…_

Light Yagami simply had seen enough bloodshed for the past few days to last him a lifetime. He was having a hard time improving his mood since they had been eating things which humans do not normally eat: rats, cockroaches, lizards, beetles, to name a few. (This was partially compensated for by Leon's competent, though definitely not excellent, cooking.) He crouched down instead and looked at himself in the mirror fragment, which was, fortunately, situated near the moonlight. He noticed that his eyes had developed dark circles under them (though not as dark and big as Ryuuzaki's, thank goodness), his cheeks had become slightly more hollowed and his jaw had become more defined. He looked at and flexed his hands, and saw that the bones and blue blood vessels stuck out a bit more than usual. In short, he was bearing all the signs of someone living on the edge of life.

Light stood up and walked lightly, careful not to make even the slightest sound, to look at Leon's face, whose back was turned to him earlier. Light mentally noted that it was remarkable that, unlike him, Leon's face and physique did not change much; he was still lean (though slightly thinner than when they first met), neither too fat nor too thin. Light then found himself digging his fingers into his palms, as a sleeping Leon looked very much like…

_Like that bastard, _Light thought, and (bizarrely enough) smirking to himself. Light returned to his previous position.

_We've been together for almost a week, and he's still not telling me why he bailed me out. _During their occasional casual conversations (occasional, because they were "flying" from one place to another most of the time), Light would suddenly pop up the question: Why did you free me? Every time he did that, Leon would do one of two things: either he would become suddenly inattentive ("I'm sorry, what was that?"), or divert the topic ("You know, I can make beauties out of discarded flowers."). Light did not want to press the man further; after all, Leon saved his life. Besides, he was in unfamiliar territory (they somehow managed to get outside Kanto) and Leon was still much of an enigma to him, so he was careful not to bring out the dark side of the man's personality.

_Whatever is fate's reason to throw us together, it's very evident that I'm not going to like it. But I'm ready in case something goes wrong._

Light had found out some interesting things about Leon's past, though. Leon was the only child of Jacob Hemingway and Catalina Rodriguez. The older Hemingway was an inventor ("A frustrated inventor", snorted Leon once) from England and was very good-looking: jet black hair combed very nicely, piercing brown almond eyes and a "killer" smile and confidence. Catalina, on the other hand, was from a middle class Spanish family, had a lovely but haughty face, dark hair and striking gray eyes (like Leon's, of course), and practiced medicine. Their love story was quite typical: Despite vehement objections from Catalina's parents due to Jacob's nationality and social status, they eloped, married in England and lived in Jacob's home, which was little more than a modest cottage located in the countryside. A year later, their son was born.

Leon made no bones about the fact that he despised his father due to the latter's numerous "sex-capades". (It took little imagination for Light to understand what Leon was talking about.) At first, Catalina ignored this, because Jacob seemed to work hard to bring food on the table for his small family. One night, however, Catalina came home earlier than usual from her medicinal duties due to a splitting headache (she firmly believed that a doctor must be in peak health first so that she can deal more effectively with her patients), only to find her husband, literally with his pants down, with another woman. She angrily drove the woman away with a pistol (according to Leon, she didn't shoot the woman; she just hysterically brandished the gun in the woman's face) and immediately rushed to the cabinet and took out a heavy suitcase, breathing, "I've had enough, Jake (Jacob's nickname). I'm leaving, and I'm taking Leon with me."

Jacob pleaded for her to stay, saying over and over again that he "loved her more than any other woman". But Catalina was adamant; she packed her suitcase as quickly as she could, stormed into Leon's bedroom and yanked him out of the bed while the five-year-old was still in his pajamas. Although Leon was very young, he already had a vague idea of what was going on and, even then, hated his father, but for a different reason back then: his father was always away from home and therefore had no time for him and his mother. Not surprisingly, he did not hesitate to pack his suitcase as well and follow Catalina back to her homeland: Barcelona, Spain, where he spent most of his childhood. During his stay there, his mother taught him how to speak Spanish (which, according to Leon, he can speak quite fluently), but he proved to be more comfortable with the first language he learned: English. Thirteen years later, however, a tragedy struck: his mother died.

"What caused her death?" Light asked once.

"She contracted tuberculosis. My maternal grandparents were dead, I had no living relatives in Spain, and so I prowled the streets of Barcelona since then. Besides, I was already eighteen years old, and I had no intention of either returning to my father or turning myself over to an orphanage," replied Leon.

Light had a feeling that something was off in the raven-haired man's answer.

* * *

"So, Leon, what motivated you to set me free?" said Light one morning as he watched Leon cook God-knows-what. They were still inside the creepy (this quality was less prominent in the morning, of course) old house. It's a wonder why it was abandoned; the stove in the kitchen, although old, was still working quite nicely.

Leon set aside the soon-to-be meal, and said, "I can feel some sort of negative energy emanating from around here…"

"Leon, you're avoiding my question. Why did you help me escape from prison?" said Light, raising the volume of his voice slightly.

Leon stood erect, looked into space, and rooted to his spot for several minutes. Naturally, Light felt a twang of annoyance. The former closed his eyes for a while. Then he opened his eyes, looked at Light and said, "Haven't you figured it out yet, Yagami?"

"I told you to call me Light. I did have a theory that it had something to do with the Death Note, though," Light replied. Leon smiled (or was it a smirk?)

"Yes and no. By the way, I like calling you 'Yagami' – it means 'night god', right? I like the way the name slides off my tongue…"

"What do you mean, 'yes and no'? I'm impressed, you translated my surname right."

"I was always fascinated with languages other than Spanish and English, especially Asian languages," said Leon. "But, of course, I'm not very fluent with them."

"Okay, stop beating around the bush, Leon. Explain the answer you gave me earlier," said Light in a voice that made it clear that the statement was a command rather than a request.

"I think you already know that I learned about your existence when I heard of your capture and arrest…"

"… and you learned about the existence of the Death Note as well," finished Light. He knew that he wasn't going to like where this conversation was leading.

"Right. So, you're assuming that the reason I freed you was to acquire the Death Note for whatever you think is my purpose and use you as leverage against yourself?"

"Yes. What else could be the reason you brought me here?" said Light, his fists now clenching.

Leon's eyes widened a bit, to Light's surprise. A few seconds later, Leon's mouth slowly opened to let out a soft chuckle.

"Light, you disappoint me very much. I knew how long it took L Lawliet to capture you… Therefore, I assumed that my younger brother's intelligence was little compared to yours. I believe that you and Lawliet have the same conclusion on my motive."

That statement hit Light with a strange mix of shock and euphoria. Various thoughts raced through his head until they converged into understanding.

_So Leon is actually Ryuuzaki's older brother. And L Lawliet is Ryuuzaki's real name. That explains the oh-so-amazing resemblance. But wait…_

"I thought you said you were an only child, Leon," said Light, sneering.

"Remember what I told you about my father, Light?"

"So," Light said, crossing his arms and closing his eyes, slightly smiling triumphantly, "you're saying that Law… I mean, Ryuuzaki was your father's illegitimate child?" _It's funny how I've been calling Ryuuzaki a 'bastard' these past few days even before I knew of this intriguing piece of information._

"Yes, technically, he's only my _half-_brother. But, as you may have inferred already, I had never acknowledged him. He's living proof of my father's infidelity."

Light understood. By freeing Light from prison, Leon was exacting revenge on his father through his half-brother. Then again…

"I don't mean to meddle or anything, but you could exact revenge on Ryuuzaki some other way… I mean, why go through all this trouble?"

"Ah," said Leon, raising his right index finger, with his right arm bent in a 90 degree angle, "that's where you, the Death Note and Gray Wolf come in."

"Gray Wolf?"

"It's the organization I belong to, Light," said Leon, as he picked up the plate which contained his meal and that of Light's and placed it on the table. "Oh, darn it, the meal is getting cold…"

_Like I'm looking forward to eating it. _"You belong to an _organization? _C'mon, Leon, I don't think you're the type…"

"You know, Light, unlike you, I have learned long ago that, whether you like it or not, you have to work in a group if you want your objectives to be met." Leon took out plates, spoons and forks from a dusty old cabinet in the kitchen and placed them under running water. Light felt annoyed that somebody would mention that he had learned something before Light did.

"And what exactly are your objectives, Leon?"

"I'm sorry, Light, but if I tell you right now, I would be spoiling the surprise," chuckled Leon. "Tomorrow, we're going to Gray Wolf's headquarters here in Japan."

Light felt excited at this, but deemed it prudent to not say another word. He decided to quietly help preparing the table for the two of them instead.

_In any case, he wants the Death Note. He's probably going to use me one way or another to get the Death Note from Ryuuzaki. Well, it's not going to work, Leon. Once I acquire the Death Note, with or without your help, I'm going to find a way to get rid of you and your meddling brother._

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**How are you finding it so far? Again, I would like to request you to give even just a little bit of time and effort to R&R.**

**At the beginning, I inserted a note that Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" is playing in the background in order to emphasize the mood of the story. I have to warn you, though: if you're the type who either finds classical music boring or falls asleep listening to it, you are perfectly free to disregard my suggestion on what music to play while reading this.**

**Please and thank you! :)**

**By the way, I would like to thank those people who took time to review the previous chapter. I really appreciate it, guys, whether good or not-so-good :)**


	6. Fateful Encounters

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**Finally! I've updated after a century! I can bore you with all my lame excuses which have something to do with university work, but I won't. All I will say this time is that I hope you still remember the plot of this story (do you still? O.O) and that you won't be bored with the paragraphs that follow. Read on!**

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"Ryuuzaki, are you all right?"

Watari briefly tore his gaze away from the young detective and looked at his digital watch and saw, through the flickering lights caused by the movement of the taxi relative to the light posts outside, that it was already 7:46 PM. Afterwards, he shifted his eyes back towards Ryuuzaki. The air conditioner inside the taxi wasn't exactly doing much to dissipate the tension between them.

"Hmmm?" The black-haired detective quickly looked at the old man. The expression on Ryuuzaki's face was similar to that of someone who had just snapped out of a trance: eyes unfocused and blinking rapidly for a few seconds, and mouth slightly open.

"Are you all right?" Watari repeated.

"Yes," replied Ryuuzaki, regaining his composure, turning his head towards the road ahead. "I was thinking about my… about Hemingway." Ryuuzaki obviously had reservations about acknowledging his relationship with one of their suspects.

"I see." An uneasy silence followed for several minutes, as Watari contemplated on how best he would frame the question that planted itself in his mind when Ryuuzaki mentioned what he was thinking about.

Finally, Watari cleared his throat loudly, and said, in a low voice, "What specific thing about Hemingway were you reflecting about?" Watari saw, out of the corner of his eye, the taxi driver tilting his head slightly backwards, probably to catch a few words of their conversation.

"I doubt fifteen years is enough to completely change a person," replied the young detective, not looking at Watari. "If we are to believe Sun Tzu, then it is of primary importance that we know our enemy as well as we know ourselves."

To the layman, the two sentences which Ryuuzaki used to answer Watari's question would seem incoherent, if not vague altogether. Watari, however, responded to this with a nod of understanding.

* * *

Until he was twelve years old, it had never occurred to Ryuuzaki that he had any sort of family. Not that he cared; he was always proud of the fact that he did not need anybody else to survive and that he could accomplish anything all by himself. This included doing the groceries.

In Wammy's Orphanage, where Ryuuzaki spent his early years, it was routine for Watari to assign a pair of people to do the groceries every weekend. Usually, the pair would be made up of a girl and a boy. The boy would be responsible for carrying the groceries when they became too heavy (which was often the case) while the girl would ensure that the money did not go to "all the wrong places". One time, to his chagrin, Ryuuzaki was paired with an extremely obnoxious and talkative girl named Maya, who had curly shoulder-length brown hair, dark brown eyes, and freckles scattered all over her pale square face. When he found this out, the black-haired boy pouted at Watari and stubbornly refused to step out of the orphanage with the girl. That was until Watari made a subtle threat to withhold one week's worth of a supply of sweets for Ryuuzaki. The boy had no choice but to grudgingly obey and get annoyed at Maya's big-toothed grin as she stood outside the door.

"Be careful, kids! Have fun!" Watari waved his hand to the two as they were about five meters away from the orphanage.

_Yeah, have fun with Maya, Ryuuzaki, _the boy thought to himself sarcastically. _When pigs fly…_

"Did you bring the list?" asked Maya, while peering over Ryuuzaki's shoulder. The boy with the untidy black hair jumped at her words.

"Yes," replied Ryuuzaki tonelessly.

"What about the grocery bags?"

"They're here." Ryuuzaki showed her his light brown sling bag.

"The money?"

"_Naturally,_" said Ryuuzaki through clenched teeth.

"Goodie!" Maya squealed in her high-pitched voice while clapping in Ryuuzaki's ears. The boy sighed as he followed his partner like a dog towards the market.

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It was mid-afternoon, and the sun was directly above them. Ryuuzaki shook his collar to help himself cope with the intense heat and with Maya's loud whining about the same. The market near their place was typical: It was very crowded, with vendors selling almost all types of wares imaginable, from something as mundane as food to something as ridiculous as aphrodisiacs (Ryuuzaki did not know what the word meant then, although he formulated an idea when one vendor shouted, "Guaranteed to keep your lover in your bed!" while moving his eyebrows suggestively at anyone who cared to look). Various smells permeated the air, as various as the people who were present in the market at that time: old ladies looking out for their mischievous grandsons, lovers simply being sweet to each other, and harassed mothers looking for school supplies their presumably spoiled kids asked of them at the last minute.

"Ooh… so pretty!" Maya's dark brown eyes widened at the sight of one particular stand, where jewelry, trinkets and the like were being sold, while Ryuuzaki sweat-dropped. Ryuuzaki always wondered why girls were so fond of things like trinkets which were intrinsically useless.

Suddenly, Ryuuzaki felt someone tug at his arm, and heard a voice say, "Ryuuzaki…?"

"Yes, Maya?" The black-haired boy turned around to see Maya looking at him and grinning.

"You have the money, right?" To Ryuuzaki's disgust, the brown-haired girl was batting her eyelashes at him. Ryuuzaki quickly understood what Maya wanted.

"Maya," the raven-haired boy looked at the grocery list then back at the girl, "we haven't even bought a single thing yet…"

"But I want those…" Maya pouted as she pointed at the jewelry stand.

"Watari…" Ryuuzaki began, but instead, to his horror, saw Maya's eyes well up and her face puff up. To make the long story short, a Maya tantrum was coming on. And Maya tantrums were not a pretty sight.

_Damn it, of all the times and places to have tantrums. _"Oh, all right, here!" Ryuuzaki quickly shot his right hand into one of his jeans pockets, grabbed one of Maya's hands with the same hand, and when he let it go, Maya found herself with a fistful of money.

"Thank you!" Maya's face lit up, as she grabbed Ryuuzaki by the cheek and kissed him, with the latter cringing at this ("Ugh!"), and ran off to the stand.

_Those were my savings, _Ryuuzaki thought grudgingly. He knew that Watari would never let him live it down when the old man found out that he had misused even part of the money which was supposed to be for the groceries. Watari always acted towards the boy with an implied sense of respect, and Ryuuzaki, though he refused to show it, did not want to lose this respect. On the other hand, he had learned long ago (the hard way) that it was extremely difficult to placate Maya once she had started her tantrum. He would have been willing to put up with the upcoming fiasco courtesy of Maya if they were not in such a public place as a market. He felt he had no other logical choice.

_At least I will be rid of her for a while_, thought Ryuuzaki, still looking at the jewelry stand where Maya was shopping, and walking away…

THUD!

"Oops, sorry about that," Ryuuzaki opened his eyes, rubbed them and realized that he had just bumped into someone. To his embarrassment, he was lying, face first, on the chest of the person he just bumped. The boy quickly jumped up.

"No problem, kid, it happens all the time to me," smiled the man as he looked at Ryuuzaki, stood up and cleaned himself with his bare hands. The boy looked back at the man.

The man was very young, probably about eighteen years old. He had straight, well-combed, jet-black hair, which was only an inch longer than his shoulders, and tied in a low pony tail hanging on his back. He was handsome, to say the least: his smooth, oval face was pinkish white, and he had thin pink lips underneath an aquiline nose. What struck Ryuuzaki the most, however, were the man's eyes: piercing, almond-shaped and light gray. Why did the man look familiar…?

"What are you looking at, kid?" Ryuuzaki jumped as he saw that the man's smiling face was only inches from his. The young man had knelt in front of the twelve-year-old. Apparently, Ryuuzaki was staring at the man too long. The boy also noticed that the man's English was slightly accented.

"Nothing," lied Ryuuzaki. The young man cocked an eyebrow.

"You have a name?"

Ryuuzaki did not answer. _I don't need to answer…_

"My name is Leon." Leon extended a hand to Ryuuzaki. The latter eyed it warily.

"Hmmm… You're less naïve than most kids your age. Don't worry, I didn't stick bubble gum in it, you know," chuckled the gray-eyed man. He didn't withdraw his hand.

For some reason, Ryuuzaki had the impulse to tell the man his other, more _real_, name, but before he could stop this impulse, it was too late: "L. I'm L." Leon had finally withdrawn his hand, as Ryuuzaki was adamant on not shaking it.

"L… It's a rather unusual, yet interesting, name," replied Leon thoughtfully, his fingers on his chin, as he looked at Ryuuzaki with more interest. Ryuuzaki thought he saw a flash of familiarity (?) in Leon's eyes. The twelve-year-old's eyes shifted to a red object tucked in Leon's black leather belt…

"Is that a Swiss knife?"

"Yes, why are you interested?" Leon looked at the Swiss knife, pulled the object out of his belt and put it inside his back jeans' pocket. For an instant, Leon's eyebrows furrowed as he did this.

"Well, for one thing, people usually don't walk around here with Swiss knives," replied Ryuuzaki quickly. Leon stood up, and for the first time, Ryuuzaki noticed how tall Leon was: about six or seven inches taller than him.

"Swiss knives can come in handy, you know." Leon smiled again. By now, Ryuuzaki could see that the smile was forced, as though he was trying to conceal something important.

"Like, for killing people?"

For a moment, Leon's eyes flashed. The man knelt down, and said: "This? For killing people?" Leon released one of the knives from its sheath and showed it to Ryuuzaki. It was short, rusty and rather blunt.

The gray-eyed teenager chuckled. "How can you kill people with this? By giving them tetanus?"

"It's not the only knife that's in there," replied Ryuuzaki, as he grabbed the object from Leon's hand ("Hey!") and quickly released all the other knives. The rest were sharp, stainless, and potentially deadly. To Ryuuzaki's surprise, he found a trace of _blood _on one of the knives, the longest (and probably deadliest) one.

"That was really rude of you, L," said Leon. Although he was calm as he spoke the words, Leon had a dangerous air, which Ryuuzaki had sensed.

"Why is there blood here?" Without looking at Leon, Ryuuzaki shook the object in his hand, examining it.

"Oh, that? I helped my father, who works here, to cut up his meat. He's a butcher, you see. I guess I forgot to clean up." The answer sounded somewhat rehearsed.

"You don't seem to be from around here, _Leon_." For the first time, Ryuuzaki had used the man's name. He didn't feel as apprehensive as the first time he had encountered Leon.

"Look, L," said Leon, his impatience apparent, "my mother and father separated when I was younger. Mother took me to Spain, but she said I could visit my father on certain times of the year. This was one of those times." Ryuuzaki was surprised that Leon was willing to reveal so much personal information in the limited time they had to get to know each other.

_So he's from Spain… That explains the accent…_

Ryuuzaki did not know what got into him at that time, but he suddenly burst out, "You're lying."

The atmosphere became heavy and tense. Leon looked as though someone threw a cannon ball to his stomach. At the black-haired boy's last words, Leon's eyes narrowed, and he put up a stance as though ready to fight physically. Ryuuzaki had assumed his own fighting stance, when…

"RYUUZAKI! THERE YOU ARE! I'VE BEEN LOOKING ALL OVER FOR YOU!"

Ryuuzaki groaned. _Stupid girl! She just said my alias aloud… _

Maya's voice was so loud that people stared. Leon grabbed his Swiss knife from Ryuuzaki's hand while the latter was busy tracing the source of the loud voice.

"I'll see you again…" said Leon, and, to Ryuuzaki's surprise, the former leaned in close to his ear and said in a low voice, "…_little brother._"

As Leon sped off, Ryuuzaki turned to his "partner". For the first time, he felt somewhat happy that she was there.

"Who was that handsome man?" Maya said as she looked at Leon's retreating back.

"Nobody. Nobody important," replied Ryuuzaki wearily. "Maya, let's not put off buying the groceries any longer. Watari will be really worried by now."

"Right!" Maya placed two of her fingers to her forehead in a sort of salute. "Hey, Ryuuzaki…"

"What?"

"Don't I look pretty?" Ryuuzaki noted that Maya was wearing a lot of jewelry: on her ears, neck, hands, and even on her ankles. _Why do girls like to ask questions about their physical appearance?_

With a jolt, Ryuuzaki suddenly remembered that _his _money was exchanged for all those bling-blings.

"Uh, yeah," said (or rather, lied) the black-haired boy almost absentmindedly, as he looked back at the man who claimed to be his older brother.

"Ryuuzaki…"

"What?" _If it's anymore stupid questions about being pretty…_

"That man looks like an older version of you."

"Yeah, I know, Maya…"

"Are you two related?" The two of them stopped in their tracks, and Maya planted herself in front of Ryuuzaki, anticipation in her expression apparent.

"No idea…" _She doesn't need to know. _"Let's move more quickly, Maya."

"Right!"

Ryuuzaki sighed and thought, _Can't she ever give a sensible answer? She's in Watari's Orphanage for Gifted Children, for goodness' sake…_

While they were walking, Leon's words reverberated in his head. _I'll see you again, little brother…_

Ryuuzaki had initially dismissed the words as an empty threat. It never occurred to him that his brother's prediction would come true fifteen years later.

* * *

"Ryuuzaki…" Watari began, but he was cut off by Ryuuzaki's hand, held up inches from the former's nose.

"I know, I saw it as well," said the black-haired detective as he looked at the car's side mirror. Sure enough, images of at least two black vans which were apparently following them appeared in the mirror.

_Director Katsura… _

Ryuuzaki quickly grabbed the driver's shoulders and said, "Use the left lane, sir." His tone plainly suggested that it was not a request.

The taxi driver looked at Ryuuzaki with one eyebrow positioned slightly higher than the other. "Sir, that would be a longer route, and it would cost fifty more yen…"

"Just. Take. It.," interjected Ryuuzaki firmly and impatiently.

"All right," said the driver as he turned his head forward, shifted gears and stepped harder on the accelerator.

_This is going to be one hell of a night, _thought Ryuuzaki.

* * *

"Raito-kun, we're here."

Leon Hemingway, using a lantern, pointed at what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. It was much larger than the one they stayed in previously on the first night of Light's escape, but just as old and decrepit-looking. Light crinkled his nose as he sensed a strong and awful smell, like rotting garbage, apparently coming from the place. The brown-haired man wondered why there seemed to be a huge heap of earth covering the back of the warehouse.

Light must have appeared surprised when Leon used the name "Raito-kun", because the gray-eyed man held the lantern to Light's face. Light could see that the man was slightly smirking, and said, "Wasn't that what Ryuuzaki used to call you?".

"What Ryuuzaki used to call me is none of your business," replied Light coldly. "And I believe it is highly irrelevant to our current purpose."

"Of course," said Leon absentmindedly, as he turned his face and lantern towards the large steel door of the warehouse. _Apparently he was no longer listening when I started replying to his question…_

Leon tapped the door gently in a very unusual way, as if he was trying to "draw" something using his fists, but as the gray-eyed man performed the action very quickly, and it was very dark, Light could not make out the pattern which Leon formed. The reason for this tapping became clear soon, as the door slowly and quietly slid itself upwards for the two of them.

Expecting the sight of old crates piled up clumsily against one another, Light could not keep his jaw from dropping when a large cave-like entrance greeted him instead. As the brown-haired man walked forward, he was immediately alerted to a low _crack! _which seemed to come from beneath his feet.

Light had kept himself from screaming just in time after he saw what he had stepped on. It was a human skeleton, horribly disfigured, like a victim of a crude ritual which involved human sacrifice. It had bits of bloody flesh and clothing still clinging to the bones. Various creatures, like ants and worms, had already begun getting the body ready for decomposition.

"Watch where you're going, Light," said a familiar voice near him in a matter-of-fact tone. "You're going to find more of those here, believe me."

_It's not going to be easy, considering that I'm not the one who's holding the lantern, _thought Light irritably.

"Where did these bodies come from, Leon?"

"Oh," replied Leon in an indifferent tone, "let's just say that they are incompetent minions."

Light felt his Adam's apple jam in his throat.

* * *

Light's disbelief at the hideout of Leon's organization just rose up by a notch when he saw that the cavern full of dead bodies (which, for his own sake, he was glad to get out of) led to a place which could be most accurately described as a cross between a science research laboratory and a typical control room. As Leon led him straight ahead, Light could not keep himself from staring at his surroundings. The walls were either black or dark blue. He remembered, with an odd sense of nostalgia, the science laboratory in his school (the Gray Wolf hideout had more advanced tools and equipment, though), and how all his female classmates would go to him, asking him for help in their respective experiments…

Light snapped himself back to reality as he observed various liquids placed in transparent test tubes, all boiling by a tiny flame held underneath each and every one of them. The flame holders, in turn, were supported by a black table. Oddly enough, no one seems to be watching the quiet activity in the laboratory. A screen, which was situated in the middle of the left side of the room and resembled a desktop computer monitor albeit ten times larger, was bright blue, marred only by a message in bold white letters: STAND BY. Underneath the enormous screen, there were various buttons, knobs and sticks used for control purposes.

"Light…" The gray-eyed man said the words quietly, but with an air of impatience. The room had two doors: one was the entrance to which the cavern led, and the other one was the exit, just facing the entrance in the opposite direction.

"I'm coming." Light did not like the way Leon treated him, like he was an immature, mischievous child who had a knack for getting into a lot of trouble.

* * *

Light's feet were sore from walking, but, out of an immense sense of pride, he refused to let Leon know. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"I want you to meet our leader."

Uncharacteristically, it took Light a while to process this. The growl in his stomach reminded him that they had not eaten for the past twelve hours.

"You know, Leon, during our journey together for the past few… days…" Light paused. He seemed to have lost track of time ever since he escaped from prison, and was pondering on whether it had already been _weeks _since he first met the mysterious gray-eyed man.

"…you were under the impression that _I _was the organization leader?" finished Leon shrewdly. "I only said I was part of the organization, I don't remember saying that I _led _it…"

"Well… yes." If there was one feeling that Light hated more than any other, it was feeling stupid.

Leon chuckled. "I thought you were smart enough to figure out that I'm not a leader type of person and that leaders usually do not do the dirty work."

Light felt a hot surge in his chest. _So retrieving me was "dirty work", eh?_

Finally, they had come to a small room. Leon opened the door to reveal a place illuminated only by torches on the upper right side of the entrance. Light peered in, and saw that the torches gave a faint silhouette to two figures: a small man (woman?) sitting in front of what appeared to be a chess board on a table.

"He is here."

"Very good, Leon. You may leave us," replied a voice which was significantly higher-pitched than Light's, yet lower-pitched than that of a typical woman.

Leon gave a delicate nod to the figure, gave Light the lantern he was holding (_You should have done that hours ago, _Light thought to himself), and disappeared in the opposite direction. The brown-haired young man briefly looked at Leon before he saw the figure coming to him. Light held up his lamp to see the person more clearly.

While Light's eyes widened with shock at what he saw, the person smiled at him and said, "Would you like to come inside and play chess with me, Yagami?"

* * *

**A/N: This A/N is going to be pretty long… just like this chapter.**

**Sun Tzu was an ancient Chinese general who supposedly gave ideas on "The Art of War".**

**You may have noticed that I used at least two POVs in this chapter, instead of one, as I did in the previous chapters. I figured I needed to speed up the story a bit at this point. **

**The girl Ryuuzaki was forced to tag along with, Maya, is actually very intelligent (otherwise, how could she end up in Wammy's Orphanage for Gifted Children? O.O). She has… er… a slight crush on Ryuuzaki, hehehe… which is why she acts stupid around him. Unfortunately for her, Ryuuzaki does not seem to like her back (I'm so mean XD). **

**Some of you might tell me "In chapter one, you said that Leon was only two inches taller than Ryuuzaki! Now you say he's six or seven inches taller!" The explanation is pretty simple: Teenage boys usually have growth spurts, and as Leon is significantly older than Ryuuzaki (six years older, to be exact), our favorite detective had time to catch up with his brother in terms of height. **

**And finally… Although I said this is strictly neither a shounen-ai nor a yaoi fic, I will be dropping very subtle hints 8D. It's up to you to find them. As may be apparent to you by now, I don't like giving my readers an easy time when it comes to deciphering clues, hehehe…**

**Well, that's about it. So… let me know whether you like this chapter (or not) by either writing me a review or contacting me through the private messaging feature. If it's so-so, please let me know as well. And yes, you are perfectly free to FLAME me if you want to. Seriously. :D**

**Don't expect the next update to come faster than you can say "Ryuuzaki". I'm going to be pretty busy these coming months with my university work (oh, damn…) **

**Anyway, thank you for reading! Till next time! I hope you're still willing to wait! :)**


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